Thank you Susie. As always, summing up a swirl of emotions so uniquely, and so beautifully, so we can share it. I could practically hear Taps playing as my heart ached and my eyes filled with tears.
So glad to see your name on the screen, Susan. I'm thinking there should be a word for what I'm describing in this piece but it may not have been coined yet.
Oh wow, Susie…..what a trip. I feel your discomfort and honestly Paul and I had to stop going to veteran events - we are with Frank………..feeling the death more than glory………the only glory I feel is knowing that my son is now safe and he is with me/us every day in a thousand ways. Thank you for your ever insightful and amazing writing. Love, Christoher’s Mom ❤️🩹
Very touched to hear from you, Patty. You are inside this story at an entirely different level and I'm very gratified that what I've written strikes you as true. Much love.
My dad and brother served in the Army. I'm always so torn between how deeply proud of them I am, and of their service, and how filled with pain and rage I am that our country, our government, uses the lives of young people as if they are pawns in a violent game. Thanks for capturing this. How disconcerting for you to have gone assuming it was just about seeing your grandson play!
Thank you Susie. As always, summing up a swirl of emotions so uniquely, and so beautifully, so we can share it. I could practically hear Taps playing as my heart ached and my eyes filled with tears.
So glad to see your name on the screen, Susan. I'm thinking there should be a word for what I'm describing in this piece but it may not have been coined yet.
This is beautifully written, so powerful and moving. I love the metaphor of “abutting.”
Oh wow, Susie…..what a trip. I feel your discomfort and honestly Paul and I had to stop going to veteran events - we are with Frank………..feeling the death more than glory………the only glory I feel is knowing that my son is now safe and he is with me/us every day in a thousand ways. Thank you for your ever insightful and amazing writing. Love, Christoher’s Mom ❤️🩹
Very touched to hear from you, Patty. You are inside this story at an entirely different level and I'm very gratified that what I've written strikes you as true. Much love.
adjacent is a perfect term for your experience and that of so many others of us.
Adjacent feels like the contemporary version of abutting. I was glad I captured that, Judith.
OMG Susie, that last line. Out comes my hanky.
My dad and brother served in the Army. I'm always so torn between how deeply proud of them I am, and of their service, and how filled with pain and rage I am that our country, our government, uses the lives of young people as if they are pawns in a violent game. Thanks for capturing this. How disconcerting for you to have gone assuming it was just about seeing your grandson play!
Pam....It had the quality of a dream. Especially the costuming in the square dance skirts and the relentlessly upbeat music (except Taps, of course).
Lovely ending to a story of a 'hard to describe inarticulate feeling.'
Thanks, Mary....It's a challenge I set myself since it's the ineffable that preoccupies me.